Simple
by Weskette
Summary: Valerie Grey was not a simple woman.


**In this AU, Danny was never revealed to be Danny Phantom.**

* * *

**Simple**

Valerie Grey was not a simple girl. Or, perhaps, a simple woman. At the age of eighteen, her primary skill was ghost hunting. Her main target was and always would be the ghost Danny Phantom. Though some thought the "ghost kid", now "ghost man", a hero, she despised him. He had ruined her life and she was determined to ruin his non-life. No longer funded by the half-ghost Vlad Masters, she found her funds to come from the people who hired her out as a ghost hunter. She easily found work now that everyone believed in ghosts do to the nature of Amity Park and it's denizens.

Four years prior, when she had gotten her start as a ghost hunter do to Danny Phantom and his stupid dog, she had a crush that shared a name with Danny Phantom. Danny Fenton. Puberty had been kind to him, causing his voice to deepen, his height to increase and his muscles to develop. He became known around the school as a "weird, but hot guy with anger issues". She wasn't sure about anger issues, but he was hot. She was never sure why anyone believed he had anger issues, but then again, she had always been on his good side, or at least, that's what it seemed like. She never really got over him and it seemed he never got over her. She felt his eyes on her more than once and she was often caught looking at him. He had this on-again-off-again thing going on with his best friend, Sam. Sam and Val had never seen eye to eye, not in the entirety of the four years they had actually shown up on each other's radar. It was a mutual "stay away from me, I'll stay away from you" set up that unfortunately didn't keep Sam from claiming Danny as her own.

But, with Sam and Danny on their off-again phase, Val was ready to try and ask Danny out. She wasn't exactly sure if it would turn out in her favor, but it was worth a shot. Afterall, puberty had been kind to Valerie too. She was well developed, of average height and pretty. Her father was constently afraid of what she might do with her looks, but trusted her decisions.

Val quickly checked herself in her pocket mirror. Everything was good. Simple mascara, hair held back with a head band and shirt appropriately buttoned (two buttons at the top undone, showing off just the right amount). She smiled and stood, stowing the mirror back into her bag. She could see Danny with Tucker sitting a few tables away, Sam no where in sight. Val was outside of The Nasty Burger, her previous place of employment. Her ghost hunting job paid plenty nowadays and she no longer needed the meager minimum wage of The Nasty Burger.

Val took a deep breath and took the steps over to Danny's table. "Hey, Danny," she spoke nervously. He looked up at her and smiled. Oh God, how she loved those blue-eyes of his.

"H, Hey, Val," he replied, still a bit nervous with talking to girls. He ignored Tucker's whispered warning about the dangers of a ghost hunting girl and how Sam wouldn't be happy with what he was doing. First off, he could handle Val in either form, even though he refused to hurt her. Second off, Sam had dumped him. She'd get over it.

"Listen, I was wondering..." Valerie trailed off, but found her words a second later. "I was wondering if you'd like to go out sometime." She finished the sentence with a hopeful sigh and smile.

Danny hadn't heard though. Halfway through her statement, his breath had become a blue vapor as he exhaled, signaling a ghost's presence. He frowned. "Sorry, Val. You're really pretty and I like you a lot, but can we finish this conversation later? I've... I've gotta go do something." He ran off without waiting for an answer.

She sighed again. "I really wish he didn't run off so often."

"You and me both," Tucker spoke before taking a bite of his burger, thus ending their interaction.

Suddenly, a blast of green energy caught her eye. She swore, turning to see none other than Danny Phantom fighting what seemed to be a metal ghost, one she saw the boy fighting quite often. She remembered that ghost well. Skulker. He had attached handcuffs to her arm, the other end of them going to the ghostly wrist of Danny Phantom. She usually expected Skulker and sometimes who she had deduced to be his "ghost girlfriend", Ember. What she didn't expect was the ghost on the motorcycle or the formless shadow ghost. She ran around the corner of The Nasty Burger and dodged into the alley way. Moments later, she was in her ghost fighting gear and activating her board. She caught up with the fight relatively quickly, sending a blast at the guy on the motorcycle. It hit, sending him flying off his bike.

"How's it going there, Ghost Hunter?" Danny Phantom asked with a ghostly smile that actually seemed friendly.

She scowled at him. "Just because I hit him first, does not mean I don't want to hit you!" She sent a blast his way just to prove it. He dodged, disappearing for a moment before floating upside down beside her so they were face to face.

She hadn't expected him to get so close to her, but she was ready. A year or so prior, her dad had paid Maddie Fenton to upgrade Val's suit. At the end of each finger was a claw made from pure ecto energy. It wasn't at all injurious to humans, but it was a bane to ghosts. She attempted to claw at him, but he caught her wrist with one hand. "Ah, ah, ah. Bad kitty. Don't make me get the spray bottle." Val opened her mouth to make a retort on how mouse like he was (though, as Danny Fenton had, Danny Phantom's body had developed right along; he was nothing like a mouse), a blast from Skulker sent them both flying. They landed on the ground beside each other, slightly dazed. The previous boy ghost looked over at the ghost hunter. "Look, I would love to fight you right now, but I could really use your help. What do you say that we open that truce again so we can kick this guy's ass? You can beat the shit outta me later."

"Sounds good to me," she boarded her flight device again and regained air.

"What do you want anyway, Skulker?" Danny Phantom yelled.

Skulker dodged a blast from Val's ectogun and answered the ghost boy. "Well, I was just doing a bit of hunting. Johnny Thirteen has something I want on my wall!"

"Jeez, what is it with you and hanging things on your wall? You must be compensating for something!" Val couldn't help but smirk behind her mask at the ghost's joke. Skulker, on the other hand, growled before loosing an ecto-arrow at the Phantom. Val used the distraction in order to hit him directly with three square blasts of her gun. She distracted the ghost sufficiently enough so Danny could deal a blast or two of his own, until the formless black ghost enveloped him. "What the- Shadow! Johnny, call off your pet!"

The motorcyclist laughed. "As if! You'll make me go back to the ghost zone!" While the ghost started monologuing, Val set her gun down a few levels. She took aim and hit the shadow, as well as Danny Phantom.

He seemed a little phased by it but thanked her, making quick work of Johnny and sucking him into the Fenton thermos. His shadow stayed behind though. "One down, two to g- ah!" Danny was caught by an energy blast that came from Skulker, who had returned to the fight. Val turned on him, aiming her blasters.

The evil ghost shied back. "Ha! Like your puny human weapons could damage me!"

She rolled her eyes. "They already have!"

Skulker conceded to her point. "Uh, well... Still! I just want the Shadow!" He turned his attention on the dark ghost, who was mere feet infront of Val. "Try escaping this!" He focused all of his energy into his palms, holding them outward towards the bad luck creature, completely disregarding the fact the beam to be expelled could hit the human.

The discharged energy from his hands was immensely powerful. The power charged out towards Shadow with astounding fury. But Skulker seemed to forget something. Shadow was a ghost. Shadow disappeared before it could be hit by the blast, inevitabley making it's destination entirely different. Danny, lying dazed on the ground, saw where it would hit. "No!" But his cry couldn't stop what was happening.

Valerie Grey was not a simple woman. She was a ghost hunter. She was of average height, strong, and beautiful. Her life had been destroyed by a ghost and his dog, and she had vowed to destroy his non-life in return. She ran her own ghost hunting business and had once been funded by a man named Vlad Masters. She had a crush on a boy named Danny Fenton. She was eighteen when she died.

Her body was struck by the blow of Skulker's power, and she fell like a rag doll to the ground, Danny only just catching her. "Val!" he spoke in a broken whisper.

"Wh... Why would yo..u call me... that?" she asked, her battlesuit returning to her back pack in tatters. She was used to him only ever saying Valerie. There was a bloody wound exposing her intestines across her torso. Danny phased back into his human form and the girl's eyes widened. "Danny Fenton..." She chuckled lightly to herself, blood flecking her lips. "I shoulda... known..."

"Val, don't talk. Oh God, don't... Don't die!" Tears began to form at the corners of his eyes. He held his hands over her wound, trying to siphon his energy into her.

"What're yo..u d, doing?" she asked, her voice falling into a cracked whisper.

"I'm giving you some of my life force! You can't die!" His hands glowed ever brighter. He forced his own health into her, watching as her flesh fought to heal with the energy, a small wound beginning in his own stomach. She tried to push his hands away.

"Don't... Do that to yo... Don't save me..." She grabbed his hand, her strength ebbing away. He pressed his free hand to her wound, desperately trying to keep her blood in her body, in her veins. Tears were pouring down his face, dripping into her wound. Her own eyes had tears in them from the pain. "It hurts..." she murmured.

He wiped the tears on his own cheeks away with the back of a blood covered hand. "Let... Let me take away the pain." His free hand returned to the wound, glowing with power. Pain was easier to take away than death was. It flowed up his arm, settling into the back of his stomach. It was nothing compared to the emotional anguish he was experiencing. "Oh God, Val..."

She shushed him. "Thanks... T... To think I'm dying in the... The arms of the guy I like..." She smiled. "I... I always regretted rejecting you in our freshman year..." Her grip loosened on his hand. Tears blurred his vision, focusing soley on her. "Gotta say, Danny... I wouldn't... 'Ve fought you all... All these years... If, if I knew..." Her voice was nearly inaudible. "I'll... Miss ya'." Her eyes slid shut. And just like that, she was gone. Danny placed her gentley on the ground, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. A loving gesture to a corpse.

In anger, he turned. Skulker was still there. He watched the whole scene. So had Shadow. Skulker stuttered out. "I... I didn't mean to-!"

"No..." Danny spoke darkly. "You never mean to!" Pure grief ripped through him, being released through a wail, more powerful and more haunting than ever. It rang out over the block, destroying bits of the buildings nearby, disintigrating Shadow. It hit the hunting ghost, peeling away Skulker's armor, piece by piece. The sound it's self was heard for blocks around, only being recognized by Tucker, Sam and Jazz as his wail. Everyone who heard the sound heard it deep in their bones, in their very souls, barely understanding the grief being sent forth. Eventually, the power reached the real Skulker, tearing him apart. The burnt out empty husk of metal fell to the ground as Danny's ghostly wail ended.

He collapsed to his knees, sobbing. It was the first time he had accessed the wail in his human form. When the strength found him, he gave one last sorrowful glance at Val's body and began to run. He ran as fast as he could, fogetting his ghost powers. He got wary looks as he pushed past strangers, this teenager with blood on his hands and face and torso. He made it home and flung the door open, pushing past Jazz who had heard the wail and waited for his return. She was startled by his appearence. "Danny, what're you- Who's blood is that?"

He didn't speak, knowing the only sound he could produce would be another mournful wail, so much more powerful than one of anger. He didn't want to hit someone from his family with the power. He needed to enter the Ghost Zone.

He ran into the basement, phasing into ghost as he passed by his parents. All they saw was a bloody blur that was their son turn into something more and delve into the Ghost Portal. The blood remained on him as he flew through the portal, looking for anyone, anything to take his angery grief out on. He saw Walker and Bullet arresting Technus. He simply had to open his mouth for the torn cry to ring out. The mournful sound sent ghosts into flight, the three in it's path being knocked far back, writhing in pain.

Danny saw something that put a seed of hope within him, though he still held the look of a sorrow-ridden soul. Clockwork's lair. He entered the time master's den and found him gazing into his viewers. "Clockwork!"

The ghost turned and gave a knowing, almost malicious smile. "I knew you'd come."

"Of course you did," the young ghost man spat. "Send me back."

"You know the consequences of messing with time," Clockwork spoke. "Or did you really enjoy your mother ending up with Vlad Masters?" His expression was constant, an arrogant, knowledged look.

"Cut the crap! I won't let her die again!"

Clockwork floated over to his dreamcatcher-like time viewer. "Have you ever wondered where ghosts come from?" He waved his staff infront of the viewer. "When a human dies, their soul is sent to the Ridge." With each sentance, a new picture showed on the screen, corresponding to his words. "A dark void on the farthest edge of the ghost zone. Some of them, if they met certain aspects, might be plucked from the Ridge and sent on to exist as a ghost, each developing their own powers. These newborns are usually very weak. Easily sent back into the ridge. Some, though they've been gifted the opportunity of non-death, preferred life and jump into the Oblivian Pool. There, their souls are sent on to be reborn, though it may take years. If you go to the ridge now, you could pull her soul out. Protect her newborn ghost. Did you know that?"

Anger fested in Danny. "She hates ghosts."

"Oh, does she?" Clockwork changed the image on the screen. It became Valerie, hole torn in her front. Danny kneeling besides her. "You exposed yourself to her in her final moments. Danny Phantom is Danny Fenton. Not much of a surprise. Half ghost, half man. Does that look like she hated you?" The look on Val's face was anything but hate. She stared up at Danny as her savior although she was dying. "Part of her was thankful for ghosts. Do you know why? A ghost ruined her life, turned her from a rich girl into a poor one. Imagine if that hadn't happened."

"She'd still be alive!"

"She would never have fallen for you," Clockwork stated. "She knew that. She went easy on Danny Phantom because he had brought her to Danny Fenton." The image of Val dying dissolved, changing to a possible future. Val as a ghost. "If you were to find her soul, she'd become a newborn ghost. You could protect her until she matures into a ghost sort of like you. Only she wouldn't be half human. How does that sound?" He showed Danny and Val, both as ghosts. Danny stared at the picture. She was even beautiful in death.

A tortured growl ripped out from deep in Danny's throat. "Send me back!"

Clockwork raised his eyebrows. "Fine. If you wish to go back, here. Save this human girl."

Danny rocketed into the past, taking the place of his former self. He saw it about to happen. "Try escaping this!" The power growing in Skulker's hands.

"No!" In a burst of ghost speed, he knocked her out of the way. The burst of energy hit him. He wreathed in pain before falling. He felt arms, her arms, catch him. She set him lightly on the ground. "Hey! Hey, are you okay?" Danny found no strength in his body. He phased back. "D, Danny?" Val exclaimed.

"H... Hey, Val..." he whispered. Blood poured from his stomach, but he smiled. "I'm glad you're okay..."

"What do you mean? Oh God, Danny!" Her battle suit retracted and she pulled her jacket from her backpack. "Oh no... It's, it's gonna be okay!" She pressed the fabric to his wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Clockwork... Se, sent me back... Save you." He coughed and blood appeared at his lips.

"What? Who's Clockwork?"

"... Ghost..."

Valerie shook her head, not caring anymore. Her friend was dying. "Danny... Why didn't you tell me?" She placed a hand on the side of his face, leaving bloody fingerprints on his paling skin.

He chuckled. "You... You hate... Ghosts." His breathing was raspy and uneven.

She shook her head again. "No, no, no! I don't hate you!" Tears made salty tracks down her cheeks. "This, oh God, no! I don't hate you, Danny! I like you! A lot!"

"That's... What you, you said before..." He closed his eyes and took a quiet breath. "I'm glad, I could... Save you..." He stilled for what would be the last time.

Val broke down, sobbing over her friend's body, not caring when people began to circle, trying to pull her off the maimed boy.

Valerie Grey was not a simple woman. She was a ghost hunter. She was of average height, strong, and beautiful. Her life had been destroyed by a ghost and his dog, and she had vowed to destroy his non-life in return. She ran her own ghost hunting business and had once been funded by a man named Vlad Masters. She had a crush on a boy named Danny Fenton. She watched that boy die when she was eighteen.


End file.
